"I wasn't aware of what Jada said." Will Smith's expression was one of sincere regret as he turned to the reporter's microphone. "If her words hurt Matthew, I apologize on her behalf..."
Watching Will Smith on television, Matthew snatched the remote and flicked the screen off. The man was undeniably clever; having a loudmouthed, foolish wife could be a convenient shield.
In the wake of yesterday's show, the tide of public opinion had turned. From print dia to television networks and the internet, the narrative had shifted. Even the tabloids that had once savaged him most viciously had slamd on the brakes and perford a complete one-eighty.
In particular, the dia outlets owned by Disney and Warner Bros. were now singing Matthew's praises with unrestrained fervor.
On the flight back from Chicago to Los Angeles, he had read nurous newspapers, and suddenly he and "300" were being lavished with praise, as if all the previous doubts had never even surfaced.
He knew that was the dia's way; with the exception of a few major, responsible newspapers and television networks, most outlets preferred to greet any story with hostility.
Even the three major newspapers—The New York Tis, The Washington Post, and The Los Angeles Tis—couldn't be trusted on many of their reports about events outside the United States.
For instance, Iranians were also protesting "300," but the three major papers were bluntly stating that the Iranians were acting unreasonably.
Of course, after Oprah's talk show yesterday, the Iranian protests no longer interested anyone. The vast majority of dia outlets that even ntioned them did so only in passing.
According to feedback from Helen, dia outlets in countries and regions sympathetic to Iran were blowing the story out of all proportion, which was perfectly normal.
But few in North Arica cared, and Hollywood couldn't give a damn. Iran hadn't been a market for Hollywood films for over twenty years, and it wouldn't be for the next twenty.
Over the next two days, as the dia ran with the story, Matthew and "300" generated even more buzz than when the film had first been released.
More information trickled in from Helen. For instance, the British actress Naomie Harris had returned to the UK, her Hollywood career having stalled. On her way out, she had apparently managed to swindle a large sum of money from Spike Lee.
Matthew now partly understood why Naomie Harris had dared to co forward and accuse him, knowing full well he had surveillance footage. From the very beginning, she must have been planning to return to the UK. Since she had no intention of sticking around in Los Angeles and Hollywood, she figured she might as well take a large sum of money from soone before leaving and then just disappear.
Would Spike Lee be even more enraged when he found out?
Seeing that Naomie had indirectly thrown Spike Lee under the bus, Matthew decided not to bother with her anymore. As long as she never showed her face in Hollywood again, he would simply pretend she didn't exist.
As for Paula Patton and Francis Lawrence, they were small fry. He was in no rush to settle that score.
As for the prominent Smiths, that was a matter he would have to plan for. For now, he had no imdiate plan of action.
Jada Smith was easy enough to ignore; her celebrity status in Hollywood was entirely dependent on Will Smith. He, on the other hand, was different from those B-list actors. He was a genuine A-list star. If Matthew didn't intervene, Smith was on a trajectory to beco a gastar.
It was rare for two stars of their caliber to enter into a direct conflict, and this ti, Will Smith had let his wife take the lead. In any case, Jada was known both inside and outside the industry as a loudmouth.
But there was, of course, one thing Will Smith hadn't considered: Matthew was an incredibly vengeful man.
Even Vin Diesel, with whom he'd clashed years ago—despite having thoroughly beaten the bald actor at the ti—was still soone he was plotting against.
But without "The Fast and the Furious" franchise, would Diesel still be the sa "bull" he once was?
David Ellison had already tried to approach Universal Pictures, but they weren't interested in selling at the mont. Hollywood studios were notoriously protective of their intellectual property, and acquiring the rights to a film series—even one Universal had already shelved—was no simple task.
Helen had also approached Universal through other channels, and the executives there had no imdiate plans to revive the project. The consensus was that the last sequel had killed the franchise's montum, and there was no point in restarting it except to milk the existing rights for residual inco.
And that was a good thing. If Universal's executives had decided the project was still worth pursuing, he and David Ellison would have had no chance of buying it.
Acquiring the rights remained his first choice.
Additionally, he had specifically asked Recognize to look into Vin Diesel's latest activities. The bald actor was preparing a film called "Babylon A.D.," in which he would star opposite the Chinese actress Michelle Yeoh.
He had no mory of the film; in fact, he'd never even heard of it, which ant it couldn't have been very successful.
anwhile, "300" entered its second weekend in North Arica.
Due to the dia fiasco, the film had a markedly slow start to its second three-day weekend, earning only $12.5 million on Friday.
Thanks to the Friday talk show, the market received a significant boost on Saturday, and the single-day box office surged to $19.8 million.
Combined with Sunday's take of $15.2 million, "300" grossed another $47.5 million in its second weekend, beating out a major new release from Sony Columbia Pictures by $11.4 million and easily claiming the top spot at the North Arican box office.
After ten days in North Arican theaters, the film had grossed a total of $183.25 million.
This result also placed "300" fifth in the North Arican box office for the year so far.
All four top spots were held by top-tier sumr blockbusters: "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," "Cars," "X-n: The Last Stand," and "Superman Returns."
After this weekend, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest," which held the number one spot at the dostic box office for the year, also concluded its theatrical run of over four months in North Arica, leaving behind a massive final gross of $512.33 million.
It also beca only the second film in North Arican cinema history, after "Titanic," to surpass the $500 million mark at the box office.
Furthermore, "Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest" was still playing in overseas markets, and its worldwide box office had already surpassed $1.1 billion, putting it on the verge of overtaking "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King."
Disney Pictures was, to put it mildly, ecstatic and had decided to incorporate a "Pirates of the Caribbean" attraction into all its the parks.
Matthew had also heard through the grapevine that Disney Pictures was already planning a fourth "Pirates of the Caribbean" installnt. The preliminary plan was to focus solely on Captain Jack Sparrow as the protagonist, leaving Will Turner and Elizabeth Swann on the sidelines for the ti being.
To be more precise, the cost of hiring him, Depp, and Keira Knightley all together was becoming prohibitively expensive for the studio.
It went without saying that both he and Depp would command their standard base salary of $20 million plus a significant percentage of the gross. Even Keira Knightley's asking price for a fourth film would include a substantial box-office share. While she typically earned a modest three to four million dollars for other roles, a "Pirates of the Caribbean" sequel was an entirely different matter.
Disney Pictures definitely had to balk at those kinds of salaries.
Obviously, "300" was a massive success, and Matthew's asking price had naturally risen, creating even more problems for Disney Pictures—especially regarding the "National Treasure" sequel, which the studio had decided to postpone indefinitely.
Both Matthew and Helen's stance on his fee was unequivocal: for a major comrcial film, he absolutely would not lower his price.
"300" had also proven once again to the major Hollywood studios that Matthew could carry a film and command a box office draw all on his own.
The film wasn't just performing well in North Arica. After its second weekend, it had rolled out overseas, opening in more than sixty countries and territories. It had already grossed over $150 million internationally, bringing its worldwide total to more than $335 million.
According to projections from Warner Bros., "300" had the potential to break the worldwide box office record for an R-rated film—$742.12 million—set by "The Matrix Reloaded."
The latest issue of Vanity Fair featured a full-length photo of Matthew as Leonidas on its cover. The accompanying cover story attributed the film's trendous success to two factors: the imnse personal charisma and appeal of its star, and the unique cinematic style of its director, Zack Snyder.
Everything had co full circle. The press selectively forgot the accusations and criticisms of the past few days and resud singing praises for Matthew and his film. Even so of the brands that had gone silent while he was weathering the storm had started calling again.
Armani inford Helen that they were ready to resu negotiations for the underwear campaign.
Representatives from Rolex and rcedes-Benz called Matthew personally, and both companies sent over their new-season products.
Matthew wasn't surprised by the behavior of these businessn. It was only natural for Rolex and rcedes-Benz to go silent when he was caught in the dia storm. If he had actually been a racist, they would have undoubtedly terminated his contract.
In the end, it was all just business.
Of course, Matthew would continue to work with them, and the negotiations with Armani would proceed.
Businessn were, by nature, profit-driven, and in that respect, he was no different.
While Helen resud negotiations with Armani on his behalf, Matthew received a phone call from Steven Spielberg. The legendary director expressed his own outrage and disgust for "scumbags" like Spike Lee, before informing Matthew that Michael Bay intended to pay him a personal visit.
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